When should you not fertilize your lawn?

Don't apply fertilizer right after a rainstorm.

If a rainstorm has recently soaked your lawn and saturated the soil, wait a day or two before fertilizing the grass. This will allow the ground to dry out some so you don't create runoff—and wasted fertilizer—when you water in the fertilizer.

When should you not fertilize?

The worst time to fertilize plants is at the end of their growing season. Trees, for example, begin to wake up and grow in early spring, and typically are fertilized once in February or March. Most shrubs make active growth in the spring and early summer, so we tend to fertilize them once around March or April.

What month Should I fertilize lawn?

Ideally, the ground should be around 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on where you live, March to April is the best time to fertilize your lawn. It's also best if your yard is watered a few days before you want to apply the fertilizer, whether that's from rain or a sprinkler.

What temperature can you fertilize your lawn?

As mentioned earlier, Turnbull recommends giving your lawn its first feeding of fertilizer in the spring—mid- to late-April in most regions—once the soil temperature reaches 55º Fahrenheit.

What if it rains after I fertilize my lawn?

Here's the deal: rainfall after fertilization is absolutely not a bad thing. In fact, it's good! Water helps fertilizer fully absorb into the soil. Mild rain after you fertilize is nothing to worry about.

Why You May NOT Want To FERTILIZE Your Lawn In Early Spring

Should you mow before you fertilize?

Ideally, you'll want to mow and rake before fertilizing, so that excess lawn waste is removed and the fertilizer will have an easier time reaching the soil. Aerating your soil before fertilizing can also help; the best times to aerate are when your grass is actively growing, such as in spring or early fall.

Is it OK to put fertilizer on wet grass?

Yes, you can apply fertilizer to wet grass and this may even improve the effectiveness of the fertilizer. That is, provided that the grass is not waterlogged and that you are using granular or liquid fertilizers that are meant to be diluted.

Can you fertilize in cold weather?

Temperatures below 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit are too cold to fertilize your lawn. At these temperatures, your lawn enters a dormant state to protect itself from the cold. If you fertilize your lawn below these temperatures, you'll feed the weeds instead, and the root growth of your lawn will be stunted.

Is may too late to fertilize my lawn?

Wait until the late spring (late May or early June) just before the heat of summer begins and after the grass is thriving before you fertilize the lawn. Feeding your lawn at this point prepares the grass for summer.

How Long Should fertilizer be down before it rains?

Apply your fertilizer two days before any expected rainfall. If you apply it, and it looks like it may rain, water your yard with sprinklers before it rains. This will allow the fertilizer application to activate and soak into the soil before the rain comes.

Should I fertilize my lawn before it rains?

Using Fertilizer Before Rain

It's fine to spread your fertilizer before it rains as long as it's more mild or light conditions. Of course, water is important for plant growth and is similarly important to helping the fertilizer's nutrients break down and get absorbed through the roots.

How can I make my grass thicker and greener?

Do I fertilize my lawn before or after rain?

It is best to wait a day or so after a rain before applying fertilizer. At this time, any pools of water will be gone, but the ground will still have moisture in it. Do not apply fertilizer on grass blades that are still wet. Check the forecast and make sure some sunshine is in order.

How do you know when to add fertilizer?

Fertilizer is most effective when used on plants at their peak growing cycle. This is when the plant is leafing out for deciduous species, flowering, or putting on new growth after leaving the dormant winter stage. The time of year for fertilizing most plants would then be spring.

How do I know if my soil needs fertilizer?

A soil test will identify common nutrient deficiencies in your lawn, and can provide information on the proper amount of lime and fertilizer to apply. Soil testing is the only way to determine the proper ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to apply to a lawn.

When should I apply 10 10 10 fertilizer to my lawn?

Apply the first dose in early spring when you see the first new growth. Add new doses at 30-day intervals. You may choose to add one fall dose if the growth is particularly slow. For ornamentals and other plants requiring a balanced NPK fertilizer, add the first dose in early spring after the risk of frost has passed.

When should I put nitrogen on my lawn?

Leading scientists recommend applying nitrogen fertilizers in the spring and fall for cool season grasses like Kentucky Bluegrass, Fescue and Ryegrass, and throughout the summer for warm season grasses like St. Augustine and Bermuda, since this is when the grass plant is actively growing.

When Should I aerate my lawn?

You want to aerate the lawn when your grass is in its peak growing period so it can recover quickly—think early spring or fall for cool-season grasses, and late spring through early summer for warm-season grasses. If you have high-traffic areas or heavy clay soil, you will want to aerate every year.

Can you fertilize and seed at the same time?

When seeding a lawn, you should never apply the fertilizer and seed together. This can cause an uneven distribution of the materials resulting in patchy areas or seedlings burned by excess fertilizer. It is best to spread the fertilizer just prior to planting the seed.

Is it too late to fertilize your lawn in November?

The exact timing on when to fertilize varies based on weather conditions and your climate zone; however, the final fertilizer application should be done sometime in November in most regions. This is the point when the grass has stopped growing or has slowed down to the point of not needing to be mowed.

Is December too late for winter fertilizer?

Timing is Everything

Beware: fertilizing too late (once winter sets in) or too early (before mid-November) can actually do harm to your lawn. By fertilizing to early, you are making your lawn more vulnerable to insect outbreaks.

Should I fertilize my lawn in January?

Don't fertilize too early!

During the winter months, grass is likely dormant if you haven't been irrigating. When you fertilize too early in spring—meaning it's still winter— you're providing nutrients before the grass has broken dormancy.

Should you water right after fertilizing?

If your lawn gets liquid fertilizer, wait until it dries before watering, about 2-4 hours. If it's granular fertilizer, water right away. One exception: if you also got spot weed treatments at the same time, wait for that to dry before watering, or the water will wash off the weed killer before it can work.

Will fertilizer burn grass if not watered?

If you leave fertilizer sitting on your lawn without watering it into the soil for a period of days, you run the risk of losing some or all of your fertilizer to the first heavy rain that hits your lawn.

How many minutes should I water my lawn after fertilizing?

The goal is to soak your lawn until the soil is moist to a few inches deep. The exact amount of time that this may take will depend upon your lawn and its sprinkler system. On average, it could take around 45 minutes to an hour. Of course, Mother Nature will hopefully also be doing some of the watering work.